Banstead Village

I remember Court Haw where my mother took me spotting wild flowers in the meadows; it was very derelict.
Us local children said it was haunted and never got too close to it.

I used to walk Ernie's dog 6 nights a week for 6d an hour. I had to do the full hour and was not permitted to stop and talk to anyone. Ernie and his wife worked long hours in the shop and I remember sacks of loose merchandise around the counter.

I lived in the old cottage named "Nil Desperandum" in Woodmansterne Street from 1949-1954. Close to Woodmansterne Stores run by Ernie Weekford and his wife. I used to cycle to my school in Ewell everyday in all weathers. The cottage was freezing cold in the winter and we had an outside toilet. Nil Desperandum still remains but no doubt completely modernised. They were tough times for me as a very young early teenager. I now live At Pagham West Sussex 01243-264687. Would welcome contact from anyone who lived in those far off days

Hello Charles I lived in Woodmansterne from 1949 to 1968. I lived in Beckenshaw Gardens. I used to deliver papers to Nil Desperandum daily from 1960 to 1964. I paid a visit to Woodmansterne and Banstead last year. I would love to talk to you about our village.

I remember a new property built around late 50/60s practically opposite Barhams village stores which also was called “Nil Desperandum”. It had a modern sign on the front of the new build. It was nothing like the original ornate sign almost on the opposite side of the road. I used to deliver papers to both “”Nil Desperandums” and I often wondered if the residents had moved over the road and had used the name or if new people had copied it. Stupidly I never asked anyone.
When I visited Woodmansterne last year I looked to see if both names were still in use, but only the original house name set up high was still there.

Happy to talk to Janice Chapple about my days in Nil Desperandum Woodmansterne Street 1949-54.

Charles James

Note from LNW: Thank you Charles. I have passed on your phone number to Janice.

Dear All,
I am the present owner of Nil Desperandum and have found Janice & Charles story very interesting.

Can either of you tell me how old my cottage is?

I have found an old map of Oaks Park dated 1866 showing this cottage & looked on the tithe map of 1840 but there is no sign of it on that one.

Also any history of who has lived here at any time. I understand one of the church wardens lived here at some point but have no idea which side they lived.

I am 31 the side nearest the church.

Note for LNW: Thanks Dorothy. I am sure Janice will reply and can probably help with residents. I can do that too if Janice has any difficulties. We are both members of Banstead History and Janice has since moved back to the area.

Hi Dorothy
I would be very happy to help you find previous residents of your home.
I can also do some research on its history. Off the top of my head I believe it once belonged to one of the large estates possibly Court Haw.
I lived in the village in the late 40s for 20 years.
The Chalk family were there in the 40s in the early 50s the James the Stevensons came next then Lottie Atkins in the 60s.
I do remember some of these people.
If Lewis passes my email to you I will then be able to contact you with any information that I may obtain.

Hi Janice, thank you for getting in touch. Lewis did send me your email address some how I have lost it.

If you could come back to me with yours that would be great. I am rather busy this week but once that is over I shall be ready to start. The history of this house has been something I have been trying to get into for sometime, I have got bits & pieces so with your help I am sure it will all come together. Kind regards Dorothy.

Note from LNW: Dorothy, if you click on the words Janice Chapple, in blue above, you can mail her directly.

My name is John Drake. Lived in Woodmansterne Lane from 1939 to 1956, Chipstead Way until 1964. School in Woodmansterne until 1946 then Banstead School. My old school friend, Bernard Chivers lived Nil Desparandum; would love to get in touch with you.

At Court Haw, the caretaker was Lionel Graham's father called "The Khalif" a rather sinister character who rarely spoke. As children we were frightened of him and the building's reputation of being haunted!

To the right of the property was Jack Louch's Lane, tree-lined on each side, leading to both Chipstead Way and Lakers Rise and beyond that, Long Tom's Woods'. The rear of the building was adjacent to fields where Mr Kent had cattle; he supplied the local school with milk with a pony and small cart.

Barham's shop was opposite a corrugated structure finished with red oxide paint, it served both as a reading room and Sunday School, which I attended.

Ernie Weekford had a daughter, Audrey, who was at Woodmansterne School in the same classes as me.
I recently compiled a list of 46 names of the pupils who were present in 1945. If any of you are interested my email address: jd27msc@gmail.com.

These names will never be erased from my memory:
Donald Fowler, cubmaster 'Akela', Reginald Chalk, scoutmaster called "Skip" or "Skipper", Miss Beddows my first teacher at Woodmansterne school.
One salient incident was when the police box in Carshalton Lane was blown-up! Possibly 1955?
Janice, my school friend Brian Martin lived at 2, Beckenshaw Gdns. The family moved away c1946/47.

As previously written, I lived at "Nil Desperandum" 31 Woodmansterne Street from 1949 until 1954. I believe the title of Nil Desperandum was a good name at that time as I constantly despaired in living in what really was a hovel at that time.

I recently drove past and noticed how it had changed for the better and looked very smart. My father bought the property at a dirt cheap price and it was extremely basic. No hot water, no heating, no bathroom, outside toilet and a very cold cycle ride to my school and back everyday at Ewell Castle School. At the age of 12 until 16 when we moved to a flat in Sutton and I joined the Royal Air Force I possessed no friends in Woodmansterne at all. Having lived with my Grandmother in Cheam village in a very pleasant home throughout WW2 and survived the German doodlebugs dropping in our road and killing people. My only pleasure in Woodmansterne was playing cricket for the colts team and trying to shoot rabbits to eat with my airgun at the large field at the back of the cricket ground opposite our cottage.

My parents were regular attendants at the Woodman Pub which is still running and was run by David Hewlett at that time who was a decorated RAF wartime bomber pilot

Hello John
I have replied to you privately I hope you received it.
I knew nearly everyone you named in your post. I never heard Paddy Graham called The Khalif before, more information please.
I think your friend Bernard Chivers was last heard of living in New Zealand with his wife Mavis.

The police box blew up in 1963, the year that Dr Who was first televised. There was obvious speculation that there was some connection

Sorry to disappoint you Richard, the police box was definitely blown-up late 1955 or early 1956; I
remember being interviewed by the police, directly
after John Tunney (both being suspects) because we
had been at a party with the Young Conservatives
some of whom used to make gunpowder to fire a cannon belonging to a member 'Doug',living in Chipstead at that time. We were not YC members and invited to the party by Tony Denning. If I recall correctly, it was held in the Midday Sun.

Changing the subject, are you related to John Meech whose grandparents were named Falco they
lived in 116 Chipstead Way; John was in the same class as me at Woodmansterne School until 1945.
You were correct, Dr Who started in 1963, the year we married in St Peter's Church, can't forget that occasion!!

I can only vaguely remember the police box being there when I visited my Grandmother in Carshalton Road and started school in the mid 50s. I don’t remember it when picnicking nearby, where it was once situated, when I was older.

The police box in question; when entering CarsHalton Lane (from church) was on the left very near the corner adjacent to a dug-out war shelter.
A police officer lived further down the lane, on
the opposite side, his name DRAKE, no relation.
According to the policeman who questioned me in
55/56, the serious concern was that an officer was
due to report-in roughly at the time of explosion!

As an afterthought, there was a extremely large cedar tree quite close to the police box, but this
was storm-damaged and had to be removed in c 1950.
The scouts were encouraged to make carvings with the timber, I was one of them.

PS will email you privately Janice with other news

Yes I remember its position very well. It was not there after the mid to late 50s that I can remember as you stated previously.

According to the Daily Express March 11th 1961 the police box blew up because of an electrical defect.

The Daily Express report is spurious, the explosion happend in late 1955 or early 1956.
I remember being questioned by police as a potential suspect; can't ever forget that stress!

Never did discover who gave the police my name and
address; was returning home by train at the time of the explosion,'electrical defect'..really!!

It was also reported in the Telegraph the same day.
David Isted a local historian covers the full story in his Tadworth Topic Facebook page of its demise with a photo of it still in situ in 1960, He remembers walking past it on the way to school in 1961/62 and noted it had turned to matchwood overnight.

Given the differing opinions about this incident, I have looked into it myself, on the basis that both versions cannot be correct unless this unfortunate box was blown up twice!

FindMyPast newspapers report the incident on the 11 March 1961, One mentions 'yesterday' and the other 'last night'. I have added one report here:

Source: Daily Express Saturday March 11 1961

BLAST SHATTERS POLICE BOX
Senior Police Officers rushed to the scene after a concrete Police Box at Woodmansterne Village, Banstead, Surrey, was completely shattered by a mystery explosion last night.
Later, a police spokesman said, "We are satisfied that the explosion was not caused by any sort of bomb. It is thought to have been an electrical defect."

The Daily Telegraph reports that police attended following a phone call to Scotland Yard.

I have also looked at the Postcard showing the box and the report by David Isted. He refers to the incident as occurring in 1961/62. The postcard shows the police box on the far left-hand side of the image, which also includes the large Cedar.

I don't think this is as straightforward as it first looks.

Clearly, there was some kind of explosion on Friday, 10 March 1961; however, one inconsistency bothers me. The newspaper report clearly says that the police box was made of concrete. David Isted says it was reduced to matchwood overnight.

Research reveals that initially (circa 1929), they were made of wood with concrete roofs. Over the next decade, more were built, now using newer models of the Mackenzie Trench design, made entirely of concrete for increased durability, except for the doors, which were still made of teak.

The concrete boxes were extremely cold and damp compared to their wooden predecessors, so provisions were made for more powerful heaters. The boxes normally contained a stool, a table with a drawer, a brush and duster, a fire extinguisher, a first aid kit, and a small electric heater.

All this tells us that there would have been both concrete and wood. The space is small and confined. A powerful heater left on next to a fire extinguisher without a safety valve could potentially cause an explosion. Might that explain the 'electrical fault'?

It is also possible that some kind of explosive was introduced into the box by parties unknown, but the police did not want to alarm local residents.

There is no dispute about the date of this particular incident. Might there have been an earlier incident? Possibly. If you have any more information, please let us know by adding a comment.

I think my Great Grandparents lived at Court Haw, they rented it from 1912 to 1923. I'm sad to hear it was knocked down, the photograph I have of it shows a beautiful house.

Response from LNW: Thanks, Ruth. Are you able to upload your photograph to the site so we can all see it? I only know of one old photo which I think shows the back of the house.

That would be wonderful to have another photo of the house.
I only ever saw the back of the house, as when the building was semi-derelict we used to go into the grounds via the Cowslip meadow at the back; we were not brave enough to go down the road in case we were seen.

I've uploaded picture #885 and a description he wrote about living there. I think this is also the back of the house.

Please add your comments about this picture using the form below.

Comments


Your Name


Your email address - this will be shown on the page and will allow the system to notify you of further comments added to this picture.